Friday, July 13, 2007

Open Studios: Weekend 1

Last weekend, I took part in the first of my two "Open Studio" weekends. Actually, this year I have not opened my studio due partly to accessibility issues and I am sharing Gallery@12A in Fulbourn, near Cambridge, with Sue Rapley, a painter. It was a rush (as always) to get everything together but, in the end, everything looked good:

There was limited wall space but quite enough to show an array of framed work:

Since I wanted to demonstrate the process of engraving, I set myself up at the end of a long table:

Further along the table, I made a display of bookplates so that people could pick through them and appreciate the quality that a hand printed piece has:

On the long table were three "browsers". I was particularly pleased with them as I adapted them myself, buying three "racks" from Habitat, turning them upside down and setting them into bases cut from curved shelving of a similar wood that I had stored in my garage. I thought that they looked very professional:

And here is a general view of the space. The paintings on the right are by Sue Rapley, holding her first exhibition. Apart from being a fine painter, Sue is also great company.

We are open this weekend (14th - 15th July). We would love to see you there. Details can be found here:

Its all go here. I am engraving a highly detailed business card and working an a design of an intriguing bookplate, combining many different interests of the recipient. I'm also getting ready for Art In Action at Waterperry near Oxford from 19th - 22nd July. Details can be found here:http://www.artinaction.org.uk/

It would be great to see you if you attend - do drop in and see me in the Printmakers tent.

During Art In Action, I will be living in my 1976 VW camper van - trouble is, the inside looks like this at the moment:

NOT really suitable for an engraver of a certain age and so, dear reader, I am also working every hour under the sun and the moon to refit it.

5 comments:

...and I love the camper van, you have a bit of work to do though. How on earth do you find the time?Our VW is newer, being vintage 1981, but he has bed and cooker. No open top roof though so you cook bent over like Quasimodo. All good fun though.

It looks wonderfully inviting, Andy. I love the racks and all the tools out on display. I think too often we don't have the opportunity to show the work behind the beauty. I'm sure it will prove to be very sucessful. Good luck in the camper... My back hurts just thinking about sleeping in it. You are a brave man!

What a great looking space. And your browser racks are perfect. I may just steal your idea, although I'm lacking a store called "Habitat." (Sounds like a store I could easily get lost in!) Hope you had a successful weekend. Wish I could stop by...

I briefly stopped by at gallery 12A but you were engrossed with engraving and it was pretty crowded. The display racks looked really neat - if I'd found your blog before my visit I would have checked them out!

It's my studio's 2nd weekend this Saturday and Sunday - last weekend went very well. Just finishing off framing up the prints people ordered.